Bones56k

Hey All I am interested in what engine oil you guys run in your Camry and WHY? How many Km's has your motor done also!. I had a SV21 which i ran Magnatec in it for the first 200,000kms and once it got over the 200,000km mark on a 0 degree mornings it started to have big end bearing knock for the first 4 seconds on startup. Got to the point i was thinking i will drop the sump and change the bearings. I decided to stuff around for 10'000kms and change oils at 5'000km and used different oils and tried old valvoline 20w/50 and the old motor behaved. The oil light would go out within a second even though a little snow was on the bonnet (with no bearing knock). So what oil you use and why? :o

Well put it this way i wiped my finger down the oil filler hole and a toothpaste 2 to 3 mm thick was left on my finger and when i rubbed my two fingers together it was full of grit. Luckily as stated it was only just under the oil cap of the rocker cover and as can be seen in the pics under the rocker cover itself was in pretty good shape. wishbone Will have to try the wd40 next time once the toothpaste buildup is removed...sounds like a good idea.

Hey All Bought a 2001 V6 recently and at 80,000kms was astonished to see the start of sludge buildup in the front rocker cover. Removed the Oil cap from the rocker cover and wiped my finger in the hole to feel (a crunchy sand feel) I thought well even though Toyota states on the windscreen the next service is 90,000kms i in know way are going to pour oil through that. Maybe Toyota has the theory do not disturb what has been created as a Toyota engine can do very very long kms as proven! This is my car now! and it will at least get to 300,000kms as The Toyota series has proved with only minor servicing! Removing the front rocker cover was a breeze except for the square conduit holding the wiring for the front coils. I had to break the mounts for the square conduit as can be seen in the pics (nothing major just something extra!) As for the sludge buildup it was only in the oil filler hole (good old Toyota trusty engines) Took me an hour to remove the rocker cover and scrub the start of sludge out of the oil filler hole with a little petrol and a toothbrush (Did i tell you how much fuel costs these days!) A little RTV gasket goo applied to the rocker cover rubber gasket and peace of mind ..... as next time i pour some fresh oil in i know its my car!

Yes i agree Topdog Thats why i posted the post and it had me stumped for a while and i never give up on giving something a service. It just lets people know if they have the same situation not to put it into the too hard basket and give up!. Ps Thanks for the additional info it should help others without the diff sump plug :) Cheers Bones

Hey All Have been a member here only a couple of weeks and thought i should share what i recently found out. Finally i decided to sell my old trusty SV21 which i did a happy 300,000 kms and in that time did all servicing myself. I decided to buy a 2001 V6 this time which was at a good price and it had just turned over 80,000kms. Toyota had done all servicing to the MCV20R as the book was stamped up to within a month of the purchase. I have always done motor oil changes on my vehicles at 5000km intervals as i have never liked doing the recommended 10,000kms. I get to the gearbox and pull out the dipstick and think that oil is so close to being black it is not funny. I go buy a Haynes manual climb under the car to check out the tranny and Diff!. The Haynes states drain the tranny then the diff that looks like a monkey could do it... BUT the diff drain is nothing like in the Haynes. As for the fill hole on the diff side it just does not exist!. I thought well i might buy myself a gregorys as it covers only the one car in 2.2l and 3.0l. Same pics and info as in the Haynes. My Diff sump plug faces to the back of the car and is on a angle! Next stop while i was buying a new over priced hudcap for the Camry i had a chat with the toyota mechanic out the back. I asked...I have a 2001 V6 and i can not find the bolt on the side of the diff to fill it back up. He replied it has to be there shine your torch around!. I asked.... does the 2002 V6 have the same setup? He replied some have no fill hole as when you fill up the tranny it pumps its fluid into the diff to the correct level. I ask the mechanic what oil you recommend Dexron 3 or the later T IV ...he states T IV. I get home that day and pull the dipstick out one more time and see written on the dipstick Dexron 3. I buy two 4litre containers of Castrol TQD111 ready to dump the oil twice and refill!. Next morning drop the oil from the tranny then drop it from the diff (after a little 10km drive). Put 3.3litres back in the tranny dipstick pipe then went for a little 1km drive. Crossing fingers and toes that the tranny was going to pump its fluid into the diff and hopefully it was like the later model. Got back and drained the tranny and was nearly in party mode when i saw about 700ml come out of the diff drain hole. Found that my car and i am not going to say yours! is pretty well spot on with 3.5litres to full. Have also done this for a third time so a total cost of 3 times 4litres of Dexron 3 (About $87AUD) In 20,000kms i am going to drop the pan and clean its strainer... this was just to get rid of oil which soon was going to cause problems. That should in theory be a new pan gasket and another 4litres of Dexron3. Cheers Bones